This essay is meant to be taken as a whole, but it is comprised of 14 sections, and is rather long. Though the reader can return to the hub at any time to gain access to all other sections of the essay, each and every section is also written to be a standalone essay, should the reader choose to read only that.
Section 3: The Consequences of Practice by Stages
To further elucidate the issues already discussed, this section will cover Huangbo's teachings about the consequences of conventional practices, this time as a way to pivot to an understanding that considers the true nature of seeking. By following this path, we can lay the groundwork for understanding One Mind, and a more expedient practice that aims at a way to real Zen; the school of the First Patriarch, to which Huangbo belongs.
For Huangbo, these "meritorious" practices mask the true nature of Mind, which is the ultimate manifestation of Zen. All this talk of enlightenment and attaining ignores Mind. Forming concepts covers over the "Substance from which [all these various practices] spring"(2.37), which is the central issue of Zen. Huangbo warns us that "If you form a concept of the true nature of anything as being visible or audible, you allow a dharma of distinction to arise."(2.42) In short, the real meaning of Zen is lost, which Huangbo explains:
2.26.For all these pursuits [the doctrines of the Buddhists] belong to what is ephemeral; even the most strenuous of your efforts is doomed to fail, just as an arrow shot never so high into the air must inevitably fall spent to the ground. So, in spite of them, you are certain to find yourselves back on the wheel of life and death. Indulging in such practices implies your failure to understand the Buddha's real meaning. Surely the endurance of so much unnecessary suffering is nothing but a gigantic error, isn't it?
Not wanting us to suffer needlessly, Huangbo pushes us towards an understanding that will garner more success, if we happen to be at the stage where we are still seeking. They warn us that:
1.29.Regarding this Zen Doctrine of ours, since it was first transmitted, it has never taught that men should seek for learning or form concepts. ‘Studying the Way' is just a figure of speech. It is a method of arousing people's interest in the early stages of their development. In fact, the Way is not something which can be studied. Study leads to the retention of concepts and so the Way is entirely misunderstood.
Again we are told that what is essential is masked by our confused efforts at studying and seeking. Huangbo would rather have us understand the meaning of Bodhidharma's coming from the West:
2.26.Though others may talk of the Way of the Buddhas as something to be reached by various pious practices and by Sūtra-study, you must have nothing to do with such ideas...When you happen upon someone who has no understanding, you must claim to know nothing. He may be delighted by his discovery of some ‘way to Enlightenment'; yet if you allow yourselves to be persuaded by him, you will experience no delight at all, but suffer both sorrow and disappointment. What have such thoughts as his to do with the study of Zen? Even if you do obtain from him some trifling ‘method', it will only be a thought-constructed dharma having nothing to do with Zen. Thus, Bodhidharma sat rapt in meditation before a wall; he did not seek to lead people into having opinions.
How is this misunderstanding produced? Huangbo says that those who attempt to use their "minds like eyes...are sure to suppose that progress is a matter of stages."(2.42) This is because of the nature of Mind, which will be discussed in more detail in other sections. For now, Huangbo wants us to understand that it is:
2.02...written that ‘the true Dharmakāya resembles a void'. Seek for naught besides this, else your search must end in sorrow. Though you perform the six pāramitās for as many aeons as there are grains of sand in the Ganges, adding also all the other sorts of activities for gaining Enlightenment, you will still fall short of the goal.
Understanding Mind, not mastering the practices, is the purpose of Zen. Huangbo states this, without equivocation, at the beginning of the lecture:
1.02.The Ever-Existent Buddha is not a Buddha of form or attachment. To practise the six pāramitās and a myriad similar practices with the intention of becoming a Buddha thereby is to advance by stages, but the Ever-Existent Buddha is not a Buddha of stages. Only awake to the One Mind, and there is nothing whatsoever to be attained.
One Mind, no attainment, no stages. This all happens "in a flash". Schools that teach practices, instead of simply awakening to the One Mind, are not part of Huangbo's lineage. Avoiding confusion, Huangbo tells us that "Enlightenment springs from Mind, regardless of your practice of the six pāramitās and the rest."(2.04) As an example, we can look at how Huangbo discusses the practices of the Pure Land Buddhists:
2.26.With the practices of the Pure Land Buddhists it is also thus, for all these practices are productive of karma; hence, we may call them Buddha-hindrances! As they would obstruct your Mind, the chain of causation would also grapple you fast, dragging you back into the state of those as yet unliberated.
The goal of all Buddhism is complete, unexcelled enlightenment. Huangbo explains that the efforts of these various schools are aimed in the complete opposite direction; to "the state of those as yet unliberated"! How ridiculous! As we move further along the path to understanding Huangbo, it is important to keep their words in mind, so that we can avoid making the same mistakes:
1.20.Most students of the Way are Enlightened through the Dharma which is taught in words and not through the Dharma of Mind. Even after successive aeons of effort, they will not become attuned to the original Buddha-Essence. For those who are not Enlightened from within their own Mind, but from hearing the Dharma which is taught in words, make light of Mind and attach importance to doctrine, so they advance only step by step, neglecting their original Mind. Thus, if only you have a tacit understanding of Mind, you will not need to search for any Dharma, for then Mind is the Dharma.
Submitted October 11, 2020 at 05:01PM by surupamaerl https://ift.tt/3dhXdgL
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